Information on U.S. Army helicopter UH-1D tail number 66-16249
The Army purchased this helicopter 0467
Total flight hours at this point: 00001773
Date: 02/16/1969
Incident number: 69021616.KIA
Unit: 192 AHC
This was an Operational Loss caused by an accident by Accident with the mission function of
Command and Control (missions assigned to an aircraft for the primary purpose of airlifting a
commander or staff in control of tactical operations or for radio relay stations)
South Vietnam
UTM grid coordinates: AN797073 (To see this location on a map, go to https://legallandconverter.com/p50.html and search on Grid Reference 49PAN797073)
Casualties = YES . .
Search and rescue operations were Not Required
Original source(s) and document(s) from which the incident was created or updated:
Survivability/Vulnerability Information Analysis Center AVDAC database. Defense Intelligence Agency
Helicopter Loss database. Also: OPERA, AVDAC (Operations Report. )
Loss to Inventory and Helicopter was recovered
War Story:
While in Vietnam in 1969, I was on the ground flight-checking the glidepath of a FPN40 radar set that I had just installed in Phan Thiet. The Huey came in shot up with no hydraulics and when he touched down about 100 yards from me, he cut his tail boom off and was out of control. It started in my direction and went into a right turn and crashed about 100 feet from me. I went to the aid of the people on board and helped 2 or 3 of them out. The batallion commander was on board and was thrown out of the Huey about 40-50 feet in the air. I cut the switches on the engine and disconnected the battery cable and got the engine stopped. The crew chief was crushed when the chopper hit and several people were injured. I was written up for the Soldiers Medal for this incident but it was downgraded to an Army Commendation Medal. I still have the award and citation, if anyone is interested in the event. The unit or Huey ID are not known at this time, but I clearly remember the incident in my mind.
from Sfc (Ret) Gene A Murrell, GenoCop@AOL.com, September 1999.
This record was last updated on 09/20/1999
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Date posted on this site: 11/13/2023
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